Sometimes when I share writing from old newsletters or other publications, I make the date in the WordPress CMS match the original publication date, so as to appropriately place it chronologically if someone goes on a deep-dive into my stuff.
I could have done that for this…made the date January 1, 2021 or something. But it didn’t seem in the spirit of this project. I scrapbook songs to help me remember and process my year, not paint a false and rosy picture of it. So this is the real date, no typos: I’m publishing my 2021 scrapbook here on January 4, 2023.
2021 was such a long and exhausting year, and I was in such a crumb-bum low place in January 2022, that I couldn’t even give myself the simple pleasure of tidying up and publishing a playlist. And you know, 2022 was an even worse year for me, at least on paper. But I’m tired of being a crumb-bum! And I’m trying to do more nice things that make me happy, like tidying and publishing playlists. So here we are. This proved an interesting time capsule, and I’m glad I made it.
Background: I keep a “musical scrapbook” for each calendar year. Songs scavenged from the ambience, if you will; stuff I hear on the radio, interesting new tracks in my algorithmic playlists, old favorites that land in a new or particularly resonant way, songs from TV shows or movies I’m into at the time, songs that stood out from concerts I attended, that sort of thing. I don’t do any intentional seeking out of music for these scrapbooks. At the end of the year I often re-discover songs I don’t even remember having heard, which gives me further opportunities to reflect.
I do a bit of light sequencing before sharing — moving a few songs around for better flow as a playlist — but I try to keep that minimal so the list remains roughly chronological.
You can stream it as a YouTube video playlist up above, or add it on Apple Music or Spotify. Perhaps you’ll find something in here to add to your own 2023 scrapbook. If you’re looking more more inspiration, check out my 2020, 2019, and 2018 musical scrapbooks.
| Track | Artist | Album |
| A Long December | Counting Crows | Recovering the Satellites |
| Mister Jung Stuffed | Man Man | Rabbit Habits |
| Free | Sylvan Esso | Free Love |
| Estranged | The Ting Tings | The Black Light |
| Thousand Oaks | Clap Your Hands Say Yeah | New Fragility |
| Gold Sky (feat. Kurt Vile) | The Avalanches | We Will Always Love You |
| Crash at Lake Placebo | Guided By Voices | Styles We Paid For |
| People Like Us | Matt Bomer | People Like Us (feat. Alan Mingo Jr.) [From Doom Patrol] [Season 1] – Single |
| dragon eyes | Adrianne Lenker | songs |
| Rent is Due (feat. Gary V) | Erik Blood | Rent is Due (feat. Gary V) – Single |
| We’re in It | Typhoon | Sympathetic Magic |
| Big Red Machine | Aaron Dessner & Justin Vernon | Dark Was the Night |
| Wednesday Baby | Midnight Sister | Wednesday Baby – Single |
| The King of Carrot Flowers. Pt. 1 | Death Cab for Cutie | The Georgia EP |
| The Saint of Lost Causes | Steve Earle | J.T. |
| I Ain’t Ever Satisfied | Steve Earle & The Dukes | Exit 0 |
| Fire | Waxahatchee | Saint Cloud |
| The Sing | Bill Callahan | Dream River |
| Water & Wine | X | ALPHABETLAND |
| Dancing Choose | TV on the Radio | Dear Science (Bonus Track Version) |
| Cannonball | Tune-Yards | Cannonball – Single |
| Los Angeles | Frank Black | Frank Black |
| Шум | Go_A | Шум – Single |
| 10 Years | Daði Freyr | 10 Years – Single |
| Bang Bang Bangity Bang | How I Met Your Mother Cast | How I Met Your Music (Original Songs from the Hit Series “How I Met Your Mother”) |
| Three White Horses | Andrew Bird | Hands of Glory |
| Black Dog | Arlo Parks | Black Dog – Single |
| Grand Canyon | Brass Against | Grand Canyon – Single |
| We Are Between | Modest Mouse | The Golden Casket |
| September Song | Willie Nelson | Stardust |
| Sodium | IDLES | Sodium – Single |
| Flame | Sebadoh | The Sebadoh |
| Running Up That Hill | Car Seat Headrest | MADLO: Influences – EP |
| Ahead By A Century | The Tragically Hip | Trouble At The Henhouse |
| Hot Topic | Le Tigre | The Punk Singer (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
| Papa Was a Rodeo | The Magnetic Fields | 69 Love Songs |
| Sad But True | Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit | The Metallica Blacklist |
| Naked in the City Again | Hot Hot Heat | Make Up the Breakdown |
| Ducking & Dodging | Parquet Courts | Sunbathing Animal / Content Nausea |
| Box Elder | Surfer Blood | Covers |
| Chaise Longue | Wet Leg | Chaise Longue – Single |
| 817 Oakland Avenue | Charlie Parr | Last of the Better Days Ahead |
| Armistice | Phoenix | Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix |
| Burning | The Whitest Boy Alive | Dreams |
| Advance Cassette | Spoon | A Series of Sneaks |
| Living Zoo | Built to Spill | Untethered Moon |
| Feral Cats | Protomartyr | No Passion All Technique |
| Tokyo Summer | Mounties | Thrash Rock Legacy |
| Bridge to Hawaii | Tacocat | NVM |
| Blue Again | Weakened Friends | Common Blah |
| Wet Dream | Wet Leg | Wet Dream – Single |
| Country | Good Morning | Barnyard |
| Not | Big Thief | Two Hands |
| More Than Love | Hand Habits | Fun House |
| The Ballad of Daykitty | Lou Barlow | Emoh |
| Almost Home | Gary Louris | Jump for Joy |
| Cold White Christmas | Casiotone for the Painfully Alone | Etiquette |